{"id":21838,"date":"2024-09-02T12:43:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T16:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/?p=21838"},"modified":"2024-09-02T12:47:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T16:47:58","slug":"romans-strabo-concludes-on-their-dominance-and-superiority-early-first-century-ce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/2024\/09\/romans-strabo-concludes-on-their-dominance-and-superiority-early-first-century-ce\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans: Strabo concludes on their dominance and superiority (early first century CE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient author: <\/strong><\/em>Strabo (early first century CE), Geography <\/em>17.3.24 (link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Comments: <\/em><\/strong>After surveying all of the inhabited world, Strabo concludes by returning to an ongoing theme throughout his work: the Romans’ superiority and effective control of most peoples throughout that world. These are the final paragraphs of his Geography<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017<\/p>\n

[For Strabo\u2019s preceding discussion of Libyans, go to this link<\/a><\/em>].<\/p>\n

(17.3.24) This, then, is the lay of the different parts of our inhabited world. But since the Romans occupy the best and the best known portions of it, having surpassed all former rulers of whom we have record, it is worth while, even though briefly, to add the following account of them.<\/p>\n

Now I have already stated that, setting out with only one city, Rome, the Romans acquired all of Italy through warfare and communal organization. After acquiring Italy, by exercising the same superior qualities, they also acquired the regions around Italy.<\/p>\n

Of the three continents they hold almost all of Europe, except that part of it which lies outside the Ister [Danube] river and the parts along the ocean which lie between the Rhenos [Rhine] and the Tanais [Don] rivers. Of Libya, the entire coast on our sea is subject to them. The rest of the country is uninhabited or else inhabited only in a wretched or nomadic fashion. In like manner, of Asia also, the entire coast on our sea is subject to them, unless one takes into account the regions of the Achaians, Zygians, and Heniochians, who live a bandit-like and nomadic life in narrow and sterile districts. Of the interior and the country deep inland, one part is held by the Romans themselves and another by the Parthians and the barbarians beyond them. On the east and north live Indians, Baktrians and Scythians, and then Arabians and Ethiopians. But some additional portion is constantly being taken from these peoples and added to the possessions of the Romans.<\/p>\n

Of this whole country that is subject to the Romans, some parts are indeed ruled by kings, but the Romans retain others themselves, calling them “provinces.” They send prefects and collectors of tribute to these provinces. But there are also some free cities, of which some came over to the Romans at the outset as friends, whereas others were set free by the Romans themselves as a mark of honour. There are also some potentates, tribal-leaders, and priests subject to them. Now these live in accordance with certain ancestral laws.<\/p>\n

(17.3.25) But the provinces have been divided in different ways at different times, though at the present time they are the way arranged by Augustus Caesar. Because when his native land committed to him the foremost place of authority and he became established as lord for life of war and peace, he divided the whole of his empire into two parts: he assigned one portion to himself and the other to the Roman people. To himself, he assigned all parts that had need of a military guard, namely the part that was barbarian and in the neighbourhood of peoples not yet subdued, or lands that were sterile and difficult to bring under cultivation, so that, being unprovided with everything else, but well provided with strongholds, they would try to throw off the bridle and refuse obedience. To the Roman people he assigned all the rest, in so far as it was peaceable and easy to rule without the army.<\/p>\n

He divided each of the two portions into several provinces, of which some are called “provinces of Caesar” and the others “provinces of the People.” And to “provinces of Caesar” Caesar sends legates and procurators, dividing the countries in different ways at different times and administering them as the occasion requires. Whereas to the “provinces of the People,” the people send praetors or proconsuls, and these provinces also are brought under different divisions whenever expediency requires.<\/p>\n

But at the outset Caesar organised the provinces of the People by creating, first, two consular provinces: namely, Libya, in so far as it was subject to the Romans, except the part which was formerly subject to Juba and is now subject to Ptolemy his son; and, the part of Asia that lies this side the Halys river and the Taurus range, except the countries of the Galatians and of the peoples which had been subject to Amyntas, and also of Bithynia and the Propontis. Second, he created ten praetorial provinces, first, in Europe and the islands near it, I mean Iberia Ulterior, as it is called, in the neighbourhood of the Baetis and Anas Rivers; Narbonitis in Celtica; Sardo together with Cyrnus; Sicilyl; Macedonia; in Illyria, the country next to Epeiros; Achaia as far as Thessaly, Aitolia, Akarnania and certain Epeirotic peoples which border on Macedonia; Crete along with Cyrenaica; Kypros; and, Bithynia along with the Propontis and certain parts of the Pontus region.<\/p>\n

But the rest of the provinces are held by Caesar. To some of these he sends as curators men of consular rank, to others men of praetorian rank, and to still others men of the rank of knights. Kings, also, and potentates and decarchies are now, and always have been, in Caesar’s portion.<\/p>\n

\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017<\/p>\n

Source of translation:<\/i><\/b> H.L. Jones, Strabo, 8 volumes, LCL (Cambridge, MA: HUP, 1917-28), public domain (passed away in 1932), adapted by Harland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ancient author: Strabo (early first century CE), Geography 17.3.24 (link). Comments: After surveying all of the inhabited world, Strabo concludes by returning to an ongoing theme throughout his work: the Romans’ superiority and effective control of most peoples throughout that world. These are the final paragraphs of his Geography. \u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017\u2017 [For Strabo\u2019s preceding discussion of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,299,296,142,109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-greek-and-roman-ethnography-on-barbarians","category-ancient-ethnography-ethnographic-culture","category-ethnicity-ancient-world","category-romans","category-strabo-greek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21838"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21874,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21838\/revisions\/21874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}